Melanie Surani's Blog, page 210
September 20, 2015
In tonight’s installation of the Horror and Suspense Filmfest,...
In tonight’s installation of the Horror and Suspense Filmfest, we’re watching Carry on Screaming (1966). Also a guest post from Jessica Robinson!
It’s got British accents! It’s got men dressed as women! It’s got mannequins who used to be human!
Uh… all very tongue-in-cheek.
And now, please welcome Jessica Robinson.
Why I Like Horror
By Jessica Robinson
Since I was in grade school, I’ve watched horror movies. It was what we did at slumber parties. But they scared the hell out of me, and I didn’t consider myself a horror fan. Often, I watched them from between my fingers as I covered my eyes.
The first time I saw Aliens (which is one of my all-time favorite movies), my family had just bought a new TV with surround sound. I swore up and down that a Facehugger was in the closet, and it scared me to death.
My friend’s mom took us to see Alien 3 in the movie theater when I was in junior high. I sat on the chair hugging my knees to my chest so that the creature wouldn’t grab my feet and pull me under.
As scary as the movies were, they were also intriguing. I was fascinated with the dark creatures that wreaked havoc on humanity. But I didn’t know why.
It wasn’t until I was in college and really got into horror that it became clear. I had a professor who told me that all movies are social commentaries, but if you really want to know what scares society, watch horror.
The villains in these films are nothing more than our deepest darkest fears personified. They keep us in line and punish us for stepping outside of social norms. But they can be destroyed. They can be taken down and humanity can prevail.
When I was working on my master’s degree, I wanted to write my thesis on demons throughout history and how they function to keep society in line. I read several books on the matter, but my chair thought it might be a bit too broad of a topic, so he had me focus on slasher films.
I had never really watched slasher films before this. A few A Nightmare on Elm Streets, but that was about it. My husband is a huge Friday the 13th fan, so he was more than happy to help me with my research. Now, slasher films rank in the top 10 of my favorite movie genres.
That was more than 10 years ago, but my love for horror hasn’t changed. I am a bit of a snob when it comes to horror movies, and there are certain films I prefer above others. I’m not a huge fan of “realistic” horror. Films such as Last House on the Left or the Hills Have Eyes or The Strangers are too close to reality for me.
I like my horror over the top and fantastic. With so many terrible things already going on in the world, I like to know that what’s happening on the screen is far different from real life. Some of my favorite horror movies are the Alien films, any slasher film, and zombie films.
Horror movies don’t scare me as much as they used to when I was young. I don’t watch them between my fingers, but every so often, they’ll make me jump. And I like that. Now, I definitely consider myself a horror fan.
loish:
newest piece! not intended as a realistic depiction of...
newest piece! not intended as a realistic depiction of space travel.. used stock images for many of the space effects.
a-spoon-is-born:
a-spoon-is-born:
Lost silent film with...
Lost silent film with all-Native American cast found
The Daughter of Dawn, an 80-minute feature film, was shot in July of 1920 in the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, southwest Oklahoma. It was unique in the annals of silent film (or talkies, for that matter) for having a cast of 300 Comanches and Kiowas who brought their own clothes, horses, tipis, everyday props and who told their story without a single reference to the United States Cavalry. It was a love story, a four-person star-crossed romance that ends with the two main characters together happily ever after. There are two buffalo hunt sequences with actual herds of buffalo being chased down by hunters on bareback just as they had done on the Plains 50 years earlier.
The male lead was played by White Parker; another featured female role was played by Wanada Parker. They were the son and daughter of the powerful Comanche chief Quanah Parker, the last of the free Plains Quahadi Comanche warriors. He never lost a battle to United States forces, but, his people sick and starving, he surrendered at Fort Sill in 1875. Quanah was the son of Comanche chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, the daughter of Euro-American settlers who had grown up in the tribe after she was kidnapped as a child by the Comanches who killed her parents. She was the model for Stands With a Fist in Dances with Wolves.
You can watch the first ten minutes of the film here. It is over 90 years old, and was produced by, directed by, and stars only Native American people.
This is on Netflix now!!!!!
tastefullyoffensive:
Gizmo the Cat Hates ‘Total Recall’...
A video posted by Athena Stamos (@athenastamos) on May 6, 2014 at 11:28pm PDT
Gizmo the Cat Hates ‘Total Recall’ (instagram by athenastamos)
September 19, 2015
just-shower-thoughts:
Hiring companies should disclose their salary up front, so that neither...
Hiring companies should disclose their salary up front, so that neither theirs nor the applicant’s time is wasted during the entire process on an offer the applicant would never accept.
This is exactly why not being allowed to discuss salary is so stupid. The company wants to believe that job is your life’s passion, when 9 times out of 10, a person goes to work because they don’t want to starve to death or become homeless.
But no. “I would do this job for free” is the procedure.
